Production of advertising materials – especially of billboards and banners- requires special care in every stage of their creation. Beginning with the creation itself and ending with the final finishing and fastening, it is important to place a strong emphasis on quality. Both billboards and banners – which should not be confused, as they are two different forms of advertising – can serve for years. The only condition is their versatility and durability.
An effective billboard and banner ad should be primarily universal. You can, of course, use it occasionally and for short-term and specific advertising. However, it will be certainly better to use it to build brand awareness in the long-term perspective. It requires the content to be universal which should be provided at the design stage- both in terms of content and graphic design itself.
Key technical features of banners
When thinking about the technical characteristics of a good billboard or banner- be it in terms of workmanship or materials used- we should consider the differences between the two formats. They are often confused and perceived as similar which is a mistake since the differences between them are fundamental.
Wallscape Billboards are attached to the building surface. They do not require any additional structures – it usually uses a reinforcing structure that can be, for instance, disassembled if necessary. Another solution are floating billboards, which have a fixed construction but can be moved to another location.
The final option are billboards, which are permanently attached to the ground. This is the most durable medium for exhibition, but at the same time it leaves relatively small room for quick replacement.
In comparison to billboards, banners have slightly different characteristics. They come in two variants – the basic model is illuminated from the front, and the alternative one is illuminated from the back. Additionally, they may also differ in the surface finish itself. It can be laminated, reinforced and adapted at the printing stage to e.g. high sunlight exposure.
How are banners and billboards printed?
In both cases, the advertising materials are created from a fabric sheet imprinted with colorful graphics. Large-format printing houses use professional printers- solvent plotters. It enables to apply computer graphics on various types of surfaces including paper, polypropylene film, vinyl, mesh, fabric and other materials. The printing process depends, for instance, on the specificity of the surface on which the print is applied – as long as the materials are relatively small, there is no need to weld individual parts of the banner or billboard. It is apparent, however, that even considering the widest plotter model- most are 0.5m – it is necessary to use many parts of a larger graphic.
When the banner is finished and printed, the sheet is cut off and waits for the material to dry.
The next stage requires reinforcement of the advertising material with a so-called weld. It can be described as a special overlap – usually 3 to 5 cm wide – which is properly welded to the inner side of the banner. At this stage, the flawless aesthetics of finishing is important – a well-made weld should be perfectly smooth.
In addition, the weld creates a surface which is necessary to insert special metal eyelets. They also require attention to detail, as they should not rotate around their own axis. In such case, the elements may fall out, resulting in a loss of banner stability. It should be therefore considered that only after the entire process of welding and eyeletting the banner is ready for use.
What devices are needed in the advertising industry?
The key part of the machinery park are undoubtedly high-frequency welding machines and impulse welders. The larger and more versatile it is, the faster the manufacturing of advertising materials becomes whereas the welds are stronger and more stable. If banners and billboards require impulse welding, Pulsa Eco, a semi-automatic advanced welding machine designed for technical textiles, is the perfect solution. For more advanced projects and other types of materials, you might want to consider high frequency welder Simpla, which was developed for small and medium-sized products such as tents, tarpaulins or tensile structures. In both cases, it is important to maintain full control over the manufacturing process. In Simpla, this is provided not only by a special welding control system but also by an autotuning system.
How can you produce the characteristic eyelets used in banners? With Ringa, a high quality high frequency welder for eyelets, you can weld them directly onto your banners. It is also worth noting the possibilities of Randix – modern cutting plotters for automatic, fast and precise cutting of technical textiles.
A machinery park consisting of such devices will facilitate a comprehensive realization of strictly marketing activities. These include not only large-format billboards, but also banners, exhibition stands elements, advertising graphics or promotional signage.